Re:Ant Lord-Chapter 104: Next Push

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Inside the command tent Mia gathered her main squad (now six: Kai, Fenn, two spear ants, shield ant Brask, mystic healer Jun). She laid a new map gleaned from captured beasts prisoners of the desert.

"Tunnel line here leads to the desert ruler’s treasure vault," she explained. "We will collect all the treasures before Vanguard Spear steals credit. At dusk we will enter the underground tunnel. This is the queen’s order."

Kai raised his hand. "These routes are unstable. Earthquakes from the battle intensify all the underground paths. We must keep proper tools and mark our exit route."

Mia tapped the board. "Agreed. Kai will scout ahead again. Your instinct saves lives. You already entered the tunnel twice. You can be our guide."

He saluted Mia. And with the weight of the Ruler’s egg, he felt a curious warmth inside him. It was like a heartbeat at his core.

A few hours later...

As dusk purpled horizon, drums called squads to staging trenches. Beyond dunes, roars boomed as the Queen’s duel almost reached the climax. The sky crackled with gold lightning. Soldiers trembled but advanced.

Kai twirled spear, whispering to the egg inside the bag, "Welcome to the world’s chaos, little one. Let’s make sure it’s still here tomorrow."

Moonlight silvered the dunes when Dawn Blade’s hand‑picked squad filed into the fissure Kai had wedged open with his spear point. Stone swallowed them, gulping torches and voices. Jun sealed the entrance with a hush‑glyph: no light would leak, no scent drift.

He stepped into the tunnel. The darkness welcomed him, though now he carried a fragment of its oldest lord, and the promise of power more ancient than any throne.

Kai remembers the last day’s memory... with the unknown Ruler’s core, he also got some gift from the A’zhorath’s, the desert ruler.

Flashback

The cavern lay still after Kai accepted A’zhorath’s bargain and the heart core. Quartz arches no longer pulsed. He turned, intending to retrace his steps, then everything dazzled.

A blinding beam erupted from the lotus dais. Kai shielded his eyes. When his vision steadied, the marble petals had unfolded once more, and floating above them hovered an egg no larger than a barn‑yard chick, its shell pure ivory laced with gold veins. Tiny motes of amber lightning wandered across the surface, casting soft sunbursts on the glassy walls.

Inside Kai’s mind, the Desert Ruler’s voice returned, weaker, yet still commanding.

"This is my child, Miryam (The desert ruler given name), last member of my line. My outer body will soon crumble under your Queen’s swords. But a mother’s will can outlive flesh. Guard her."

Kai stepped forward, awed. The egg chimed with a clear silver note as though it was greeting him. Heat poured off it, though harmless.

"I bestow two gifts," A’zhorath whispered. "First, a shard of Ruler’s Aura—three charges. When invoked, it erupts as my dying roar. Even an eight star rank will turn to dust in its path. Use it wisely; each release will drain half your life‑force until your body reaches the five star rank constitution."

A comet of blazing energy leapt from the ceiling, scoring runic spirals around Kai before plunging into his chest. His exoskeleton glowed molten for one heart‑beat; then the flare settled, leaving a faint sigil of a three‑pointed sun. It burned above his heart.

[Ding! System notifications: Passive Stigma Added: "Ruler’s Roar (3/3)"

Activate to emit Desert‑Ruler shock‑wave. One sigil point will vanish consumed per use. ]

Kai staggered, gasping. Power he’d never known coiled under his plates, it was vibrant and terrifying.

"Second," A’zhorath the desert ruler continued, "I pass my Ruler‑Authority to Miryam. Although now it’s locked. She will be able to use it with each rank up. There are a total of eight locks. Each rank up will unlock one lock. Through her I shelter you. Feed her, teach her, and when she claims her throne, your enemies shall quake in fear."

The egg glowed brighter. Thin filaments of light drifted outward, wrapping Kai’s arms as if measuring him for new armour.

"Bind her with your will," the Ruler instructed, voice now barely a breeze.

Then the presence faded, like sand blown from the hand only leaving the chamber silent, egg still floating. ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm

Kai stepped beneath the egg. He exhaled, pricked a claw, and let a bead of crimson drip across its crown. The moment blood touched ivory, light blazed. Glyphs spiralled; the egg shrank again to marble size and drifted into his waiting palm.

Back to the current time...

Kai reached the lip of the triage trenches just as dusk spread bruised‑purple across the western dunes. Dust and drake‑ichor had dried to a hard crust on his plates, yet the little marble egg tucked inside the star‑crystal‑milk gourd throbbed with a pleasant inner warmth, steady as a second heartbeat.

Inside, the tunnel Kai had mapped glowed faint turquoise from quartz seams. He led the team translating each Predator‑Instinct tremor into steps left or pauses right. Behind, miners lugged bone picks, and Mia walked third, eyes half‑lidded, already listening inward to the pulse of the surrounding crystal.

After two hundred metres the passage flared into a cathedral cavern. Star‑crystal pylons erupted from the floor like icebergs: milky white colour, each laced with a perfect three, four, five, even six point star. Raw aura vibrated in the air, Kai’s plates itched.

Miners started, awestruck. Although Kai and Mia visited this mine earlier, at that time they were busy looking for an exit. They didn’t come to this area. Jun set ward talismans in a ring; muffled pops as they anchored to let currents, forming a soft amber dome.

"These sing to me," Mia breathed. She picked a waist‑thick spire, pressed her palm upon it. Lines of light ran from vein to vein, meeting at her chest. She sat cross‑legged, inhaled. "Guard me. Twelve hours, no less. This star crystal will help me a lot to increase my potential. If I can successfully absorb all these star crystals... then I can reach eight star rank within a few years."

Kai rolled shoulders. "Understood Princess."

Miners began chiselling outer pillars for carry‑loads.

Kai checked stats: HP 21000/2 200, Aura 2 700/2 900, Level 28, EXP 200/1 000. He wanted the next level up as soon as possible.